Cyclamen
by Alika613
Summary: Like a cyclamen blooming, Naruto's past is opening up, and the mystery behind one of the greatest ninjas of all time. YondaimeKushina, the Kyuubi, and Naruto's childhood. NOT FourthXNaruto NOT!
1. Chapter 1

Cyclamen

* * *

"If you could please wait a moment, Temari-san."

Temari knew well enough that the Hokage wanted her to leave the office to wait, and when she exited she was guided by Shizune, who appeared distracted and offered her something to drink offhandedly. Getting distracted by a very irritated Anbu, Shizune briefly showed Temari into a waiting area, lightly pushing her in before running off again.

Temari sighed, while Konoha was peaceful, it was also in a state of constant rush. She looked at the narrow room she was faced with, it seemed to have once been a hallway that had been redone in an effort for more room, then seemed to have been hastily moved into. Two chairs and a low table, hardly decorated and barely painted.

It was when she sat down that she noticed the portraits across from her, four, one of every Hokage that had since passed on. Though it wasn't until she got to the last one, the fourth, looking at the serious face she felt as though something must be wrong with it. The tight lips weren't normal. It should be smiling. Yes, that was it, if it was smiling it would look exactly like-

"Temari?" Shikamaru leaned against the door frame, staring at the strong willed woman who seemed very close to gaping.

"Hey, do you know who Naruto's parents are?!"

Shikamaru hadn't expected that, but went with it. "He's an orphan, he let it slip once at the academy that he didn't have anybody left. I've never heard him mention any relatives, unless you count Iruka-sensei who's a cross between a big brother and a mother." Shikamaru wasn't interested in her new found interest, but thought it might be rude to turn and leave without answering.

"So nobody knows his father? Or what he did?"

"No…"

Temari gritted her teeth and tried not to look back on the portrait. Seeing that face made her… sad, because it was Naruto's face frowning back at her, no matter who the portrait was originally supposed to be of.

"Whatever, is the Hokage free?" Temari reached for her fan and laid it across her back, she wouldn't bring it into the Hokage's office as a sign of peace, but she hadn't been able to leave it in the room she was boarding.

"If by free you mean has nothing better to do than drink," Shikamaru moved a little slowly out of her way, brushing her side.

"Careful, you don't want to tell another nation's nin the Hokage's weakness."

"Somehow I doubt Gaara cares much about Tsunade-sama's drinking habits."

* * *

Ino was working through her latest order of wedding flowers when she tripped and fell against an old cupboard. She groaned and decided to punch the damn thing, unleashing several leather bound books that flopped open at her side. Huffing under her breath she peered at the ancient things, books filled with order after order of flowers and herbs, a book kept in case of pivots in tax demands.

_'Order of Orange Blossoms to Uzumaki Kushina, Anonymous.'_

"Oh," she sighed, looking over the order, she knew nothing of Naruto's past and assumed that either this Uzumaki was a relation Naruto already knew, or was a complete stranger. She frowned and looked over more of the orders to the same person, all from an anonymous source.

They certainly had interesting taste in plants, each with a special meaning that she was sure the admirer knew. She sat on her work bench and let her mind rove over the plants, remembering their meanings in courtship; Lilac was 'first love', magnolia 'dignity', white tulip 'forgiveness', violet 'faithfulness', and anemone 'fragile'. She could practically see the love story unfold. Their first awkward and romantic meeting, one of them stubborn with dignity and forgiveness for it, a promise to be there, and then the moment their relationship was fragile.

It was such an old book, who knew what had happened to them. She flipped through and only found her name again a month later.

_'Order of Cyclamen to Konoha Burial in Recognition of Uzumaki Kushina, Hatake Kakashi.'_

Cyclamen, the flower of Resignation and Goodbye.

She didn't know why she felt like crying.

* * *

Naruto sat atop the Fourth's head, his claws leaving light gauges in the stone. This was one of those days when he didn't know who he was, Kyuubi or Naruto, or both, somehow seemed to be in charge- and yet not really. It was calming to sit here with the breeze, and though Naruto wasn't fighting back the Kyuubi, the fox wasn't taking charge.

Naruto looked down at his clawed hand when a strange feeling took him, it felt like bitter sadness, and maybe even regret, and yet a stubborn sense of pride was there too. Naruto thought against bringing up the fox's emotions, it was better than the sick lust for blood and mayhem, even if it was confusing and scary to think he could feel the demon's emotions- and that they weren't entirely evil.

He fell back against the stone, his nose twitching as the wind carried scent. In his Kyuubi riddled phase his sense of smell was heightened, and he tried to pick them apart. He managed a few, those of Iruka at the academy nearby, then that of ramen which he could smell anywhere, he breathed deep the smell of floral shampoos from some nearby bathhouse. He frowned, but sitting up he wasn't mistaking it, Temari's scent of a woman's musk and sweat and dessert flowers glided through the air.

He would go find her and ask about Gaara, see if the younger vessel was okay. Until then he'd work his way through the scents. He recognized a scent and somehow it calmed him, cyclamen that was it. He'd seen it in Ino's family shop, having no choice but to face her father's stony glare when he went to get Ino for a mission. He'd remembered it then too for some reason, but didn't know where from.

He left for his apartment, careful not to let anyone see him, not yet ready to go back to being human.

* * *

This is merely me exploring with Naruto's past and birth while I work through my writers' block. I'll continue this, if merely to give my other stories some background.

As a first chapter, what do you think? I'm not sure how long this will be, but if it gets big enough I'll give a plot and pairings.

If you review, I'll give you an imaginary cookie!

-Alika613


	2. Chapter 2

Cyclamen

_/Kyuubi speak/_

_'Thought'_

_Flashbacks_

* * *

_"Uzumaki-san?__Delivery."_

_"Huh?"_

_The first instinct you would have looking at the girl in front of you, was that she was very beautiful, but in a strange way. She was neither plain, nor exotic. She gave off an essence of a person desperately trapped between two opposing things, good and evil, strong and weak, smart and… well thick._

_Her red brows furrowed as she looked at the orange blossoms the blond man held out to her.__ "Uh, I'm pretty sure you got the wrong Uzumaki…"_

_The man stared as she adjusted the hitaite around her forehead, whirlpool country._

_"You are Uzumaki Kushina are you not?" Of course she was, he, a Yamanaka wouldn't get it wrong._

_She seemed confused for a moment, then a pained expression crossed her face, "What am I, a girl?" she asked rhetorically as she took the blossoms held out to her. "Let me guess," she started, stopping th__e__ man in his movement to leave. She looked at the anonymous card, "tall, blonde, has an inner romantic__…"_

_He didn't bother answering, he had no idea who set the order, however the man must not know her very well, for if her cropped, blindingly orange top and torn apart jeans were any indication; she was not the flower type of girl. She didn't seem to care for the answer so much and only rolled her eyes, but when he turned back to catch a last glimpse at the tomboyish girl, he could've sworn she smiled._

_If only a little bit._

* * *

The elderly woman frowned at the weeds invading her garden, it was high time she higher some genins to take care of it, the only problem was that they were late. "And to think I used to like kids…" The woman frowned and turned to the building in back of her, Konoha Orphanage, she glared at the construction workers, it had been rundown for quite some time and now all of a sudden they were fixing it up?

If they so much as dropped a teaspoon of cement or any of the foul chemicals and construction things they were using in her garden she would box their ears.

"Jun-san?" The woman turned to face the man she knew as Ebisu, and her bad mood instantly darkened when she saw the bratty genin at his sides.

"This is my garden of Cyclamens, they are each exotic and _very dear to my heart._" She almost smiled at the gulp of fear she got, but not quite. "I need you to pull up the weeds, but I'd be careful if I were you, don't pull up any of my flowers." She didn't have time for this, she turned and left, planning to spank the boy who was making faces at her back.

"Bitch."

"Konohamaru! You-"

"Yeah! I know, be good, blah, blah, blah…" The boy rolled his eyes, hadn't he complained just yesterday for them to give them harder missions?

"They're redoing the orphanage? It's been rundown since forever."

"Looks like it, Moegi, hey wasn't there something in the paper about that? Like the conditions were so awful bunches of kids died or something?"

Udon looked up, "I think they were low on vaccines and because the place was so dirty kids got sick and they had their own mini-epidemic."

Konohamaru was unusually silent, so much in fact everyone turned to stare at him.

"Didn't the Boss grow up here? Naruto of Konoha Orphanage…"

Moegi looked back at the big building, windows were broken, graffiti lined the place, and she knew that it wasn't the construction workers. She tugged on one pigtail, overcome with a sense of remorse.

"Yeah, Iruka-sensei said they met here."

_'Naruto grew up in this place?'_

* * *

_He wasn't drunk, not really. _

_He tripped to the side._

_Okay, he was drunk, but it wasn't that bad. It wasn't like he had anywhe__re to be, no where to be at all. Nobody gave a fuck enough to need or miss him. He pushed the brown hair that had fallen sloppily from his ponytail, glaring at the sign above him._

_'Konoha Orphanage; Dedicating itself to finding permanent, loving homes for children.'_

_"__Bullshit.__" He would have thrown h__is bottle at the sign if__ it was empty, but it wasn't so he gripped it and sat on the lawn in front of it. After his parents had died he'd had to __spend__ a whole year in that hellhole until he became a chuunin._

_What difference did it make though? His life still sucked._

_He didn't normally drink, but ever since his stay in the hospital he'd been taken off missions, and with nothing to do…_

_"Who's there?!"__ Iruka didn't believe there was an actual threat, but his ninja training __overrides__ the alcohol._

_And Iruka was glad he hadn't drawn a kunai, because the kid that made the noise looked __so__ damn scared as it was. He groaned and sat back down, beckoning the kid, certain he'd take off running._

_But the blonde toddler just crept closer, finally sitting next to him. His blue eyes looking up at the __drunk__ chuunin with innocence, and no judgment._

_Iruka actually kind of liked it__, "what are you doing out here?"_

_"I was bad so they locked me out." He sounded so matter __of__ fact._

_The brown eyes roved over the marked cheeks, "what'd you do?"_

_The blonde's brows furrowed, he looked confused, "I don't know, but I was bad."_

_Iruka watched as he shivered, and wasn't thinking clearly when he took off his shirt and pushed it over the kids head, giving him an extra layer. The cold bothered him more as he was only in his mesh shirt._

_Standing up he used the blonde head to steady him, staring at the hair when it looked familiar but couldn't quite place it…_

_He walked off, but turned one last time, "I'm drunk, so I better go before I do anything stupid, but I'll check up on you tomorrow kiddo, '__kay__?"_

_The blonde __smiled,__the tee-shirt far too big for him._

* * *

If you love me- review, if you hate me- review,

If you don't give a hoot- review!!!

-Alika613

PS: I know there isn't a lot of detail, but I have a lot of information to get through! And if you have an idea that you think would be awesome for them, leave a review!!!


	3. Chapter 3

Cyclamen

Disclaimer: Though some of the ideas are mine, I do not own the characters or main plot of Naruto.

_/Kyuubi speak/_

_'Thought'_

_Flashback_

* * *

_Iruka wasn't much for holding his liquor, but he had the amazing ability of never getting a hangover, the next morning he was headache free- and the only problem seemed to be where the hell did he leave his shirt?_

_He stepped through his practical apartment, promising himself he'd clean the kitchen of beer and sake later, and tripped over something furry._

_"What the…" He stared blankly at the snoring mass at his feet, and then realization dawned on him. "__Kiko__, you fat cat, you climbed in through my window didn'__t you?__" The mass looked up at him blankly, __then__ started purring as though upsetting Iruka was all good fun._

_"Whore," Iruka wasn't afraid to call the obese monster what it was, sneaking into his house like __that. Didn't it belong to __Akiro__'s__ mother or something? What the hell was its problem?__ "Attention slut," he mumbled as it climbed into his lap on the floor._

_He stared at it for a second, the tabby made him worried, "Bloody fuck! The kiddo with whiskers, oh for gods sake, I hope he didn't freeze to death."_

_He spared a pat to __Kiko's__ head before turning to run out the door, still without a shirt__, the wretched fat cat fell off his lap giving a drawn out hiss_

* * *

Akiro looked towards the old building. I strange smile was plastered across his face, the orphanage was getting rebuilt, and the orphans a better place to live. He remembered his days there, getting yelled at for everything he did, not being allowed to do anything fun, being punished just because he wasn't adopted- like he wasn't being punished enough being abandoned.

He'd heard good things though in recent years, how ninja and civilian teachers had banded together to work with the children there, about the better health care and trained medicals available just in case.

He frowned as his workers got in mock fight during their break, punching each other in the shoulder with such zest, he sighed. Well things weren't exactly perfect, bitches were still bitches, he thought to himself as the old woman named Jun-san walked past, her eyes trained to glare at him.

"Jun-san, what a pleasure! You might not remember me, I'm Akiro, I-"

"Yes, yes, I know who you are- you used to belong to the orphanage next door, always trampling drunk through my garden with that _boy,_ Umino. Congratulations, I see you've turned your life around, even after your mother was a drunk and your best friend a delinquent."

Akiro may have grown up, but he still struggled with whether or not to chuckle, he remembered the good old days- getting drunk with Iruka, trying to be ninja, arguing with social services about his situation with his mother. "Hey, that trampling drunk turned into a high ranked construction worker."

"There are ranks for mixing plaster?" The woman lifted her head in an attempt to appear taller, as though she might still be able to intimidate the full grown man.

"Hai, I oversee government buildings such as the Hokage's Tower and whatnot, and the drunk delinquent I used to hang out with became a teacher at the ninja academy. We're all grown up," Akiro smiled in an easygoing manner, if he could just say one small thing to tick her off it would be worth all the putdowns she could ever think of.

"I see that, I'm glad to see you didn't get killed in prison."

_'Okay, prison is a bit of a stretch, it was only three years in __juvy__.' _ "It wasn't that big of a deal, I served my time and my record was cleared." Akiro was starting to get defensive.

"Oh, that's funny, I thought kidnapping had greater consequences." The old woman pushed, noting the anger that crossed the man.

"You don't know the whole story…"

The woman turned, her teeth showing in a crooked smile. Akiro thought about calling out to her, thought about telling her that it didn't matter that he'd kidnapped the boy because he had healed fine and the orphanage didn't want him anyway, thought about telling her that he and Iruka were the only ones that had given a damn back then, but he didn't.

It really wasn't that big of a deal, kidnapping Naruto.

* * *

_"Move the fuck __outta__ the way!" Asuma flinched as he saw the __chuunin__ barreling past him, his notorious hair whipping around him as he screamed __profanity and knocked over a few barrels of trash. Sometimes Asuma wondered what his father saw in him._

_It wasn't that he didn't like __Iruka,__ it just seemed that at times Iruka hid his good side a little too well, not to mention the various fights and misdemeanors Iruka had always gotten himself into- now he was flying around shirtless scaring the public._

_Asuma would have laughed, but it stopped being funny when the kid started getting into drinking as a daily habit. It was too often that Iruka got called into the Hokage's office to be talked with about his "issues"._

_Asuma knew that liking Iruka and trying to help him was a tiring job, if his father's stress and increase in lectures wasn't enough of a hint._

_Asuma watched as Iruka ran in the direction of Konoha's orphanage__, 'No way Iruka would ever go back there if he could help it…"_

* * *

What I really want to do, is write a fic where everyone is connected, and Naruto is smack-dab in the middle!

If you comment, I'll love and obsessively internet-stalk you…

-Alika613


	4. Chapter 4

Cyclamen

Disclaimer: Though some of the ideas are mine, I do not own the characters or main plot of Naruto.

_/Kyuubi speak/_

'_Thought'_

_Flashback_

* * *

Naruto continued in the direction of his small, one-man apartment, but was forced to stop as he heard his name. It was strange, distant, as though someone was talking about him and not calling out to him. His first reaction was a groan, not wanting to hear what anybody thought about the demon child, but the voice was familiar, soft and young. It took a moment for his mind to reorganize itself, separating demon from human. Large purple eyes stared down at his hands as he willed the claws to shrink back, and paused even longer for the eyes to return to their blue pigment.

_/Oy, it there a reason you suddenly feel like stuffing me away, brat?!/ _The Kyuubi's signature growl and sarcasm floated up as though from the back of Naruto's mind.

'_Sorry, going to have a chat with some normal people and I don't want you scaring them off!' _Naruto quickly pushed the Kyuubi away from his conscious, knowing he'd have to hear all about how ungrateful and weak he was the next time he tried to borrow chakra from the demon.

It took him a second in order to recall where he heard the voice from, and then he jumped to the roof at his left and down to the street, following sounds of construction and the slight tussle of two men on their lunch break. He looked up at the old building that had been concealed and tucked away behind larger building. Maybe if he had remembered what lay in this area he wouldn't be too quick to rush towards the speaker and get a look at the old orphanage.

Naruto didn't look long, he turned around and tried to find the person who could have spoken his name. He spied an old woman and a construction worker who appeared to be having a pained conversation, but they could never have been the voice so he didn't bother listening in on their words. He turned a little further before spying an agitated Ebisu lecturing Konohamaru (who did NOT appear to be listening as he held his hands over his ears).

Naruto ran forward, sneaking up behind the genin and tapping him on the shoulder. "Hey, did somebody say my name?" he asked with a smile.

* * *

_Iruka wasn't the type who felt guilty, he wasn't mean to anyone in particular, and he figured watching his parents die, being forced into an orphanage because nobody felt like bothering with him, and then all _

_the crap with his team and still trying to be a ninja was excuse enough for him to be pissy every once in a while. _

_Today was completely different though, last night he had been an idiot. Leaving a kid alone outside at night in the cold was cruel and ridiculous. True, he'd been kind enough to give him the shirt off his back, literally, but you can't ditch a, what, five or six year old? It's unethical to be drunk enough o abandon some poor kid outside the orphanage that was supposed to be his shelter._

_Then again, the little tyke probably would have been mentally and emotionally scarred had Iruka brought him home. He could see it now, little kid needs to see therapist after watching a bizarre, drunk teen pass out in bed after doing god knows what in that crazy state. Plus, leaving a kid alone in a room filled with scrolls and kunai would never exactly be bragged about among baby sitters._

_Not to mention it was just plain dangerous to be around an intoxicated ninja to begin with._

_And he felt so guilty! He never felt guilty! What he did to other people they deserved, they asked for his pranks and his smartass remarks, so he never had to feel guilty about them or anyone._

"_Oy! Open the bloody door you sons of-" Iruka had probably never been in more haste to get into the haunted building, where children were treated like crap because nobody else would have them. Well Iruka had never been physically abused, but that didn't mean he adored the 'fucking hell hole.'_

"_Ruka-kun? Well don't you look like something the cat dragged in, crazy son of a bitch. I don't suppose you've come to rescue me, sweep me off my feet and elope with me have you?" _

"_Akiro? What are you doing here?" _

_Iruka was stunned, he hadn't thought he'd be running into Akiro today._

"_I live here, you know, parents don't love me anymore and all that. What are you doing here?"_

"_**Where's the blonde kid?!"**_

* * *

This has to end here because something is happening to my program and it's indenting every line after the first, which REALLY pisses me off. I don't know how to undo this! I didn't even press any buttons!! GRRR!

And PLEASE review! Plus, check out my page since I always have a poll going on which will usually influence my stories and writing a great bit! You have a voice my readers, now vote!

-Alika613

PS: This chapter is really short, isn't it?


	5. Chapter 5

Cyclamen

Disclaimer: Though some of the ideas are mine, I do not own the characters or main plot of Naruto.

_/Kyuubi speak/_

'_Thought'_

_Flashback_

* * *

"_Ruka-kun? Well don't you look like something the cat dragged in, crazy son of a bitch. I don't suppose you've come to rescue me, sweep me off my feet and elope with me have you?" _

"_Akiro? What are you doing here?" _

_Iruka was stunned, he hadn't thought he'd be running into Akiro today._

"_I live here, you know, parents don't love me anymore and all that. What are you doing here?"_

"_**Where's the blonde kid?!"**_

_Akiro looked at Iruka again, it had been, well, a while. How long? A year? Yes that was right, his Ruka-kun had become a chuunin and hadn't been around much. Not that Akiro blamed him, the place wasn't exactly the type you wanted to visit again and again. Instead of commenting though, he asked again, "So we aren't eloping?"_

_Iruka's eyes widened for a second, before chuckling, then sputtering. "This is no time to be joking! I've got to find somebody!"_

"_Really?" Akiro perked up a little. "You've misplaced some blonde kid right? Do I know him?"_

_Iruka blushed a little. Iruka had always been slightly spontaneous, slightly loud, slightly head strong, but Akiro was calm… at least most of the time, and the way he leaned against the door way like there wasn't anything better to do, made Iruka realize he was panicking. "You tell me. He's like, oh god I don't know, maybe five years old! Big blue eyes, with whisker like scars, and- Akiro, what's wrong?!"_

_Akiro was slightly surprised that Iruka noticed the change in his facial expressions, but he figured a ninja had to notice those things. His mood darkened from surprise though, when he remembered why he was upset. "Oh… it's just… you don't mean…_

"_The demon do you…?"_

* * *

_Kushina looked to the flowers on the window sill beside her hospital bed. It was white, and she narrowed her eyes at it, not in anger but in confusion. She decided it was most likely a tulip, since it didn't really _

_look like anything else and tulips were common enough. She eyed the simple clear vase with an orange ribbon tied around the skinniest part of it. It had to have come from that flower shop run by ninjas, whatever it was called, and it had to have been ordered by "Blondie." Nobody else would have thought to send her a get well gift. She was well known as a ninja and strong willed tomboy, but when had anyone bothered to send her gifts? Romantic or otherwise?_

_Not that she thought the man was trying to be… romantic, or anything. She blushed furiously at the thought. About ready to smack herself she turned to the door as she sensed someone approach. She tried not to let her face fall as the senior nurse bustled in, smiling and pointing out the flowers._

"_The man that brought those flowers for you was such a sweetheart, he couldn't stay though. He told me to tell you that he hopes you get better soon."_

_She stared at the woman. Sweetheart? Had Blondie tried to flirt his way in to see her? She wouldn't put it past him, he always tried to be there for a wounded comrade, they were generally more pleased to wake up to him than white hospital walls. That and it seemed he always wanted to make sure that everybody, didn't matter how well or how little he knew them, was okay at the end of the day. 'Must have a mission he needed to go on…' The thought was rather painful, and she wondered how his team was doing without him._

'_They wouldn't have sent him out on a mission so soon if anybody could do it, so they needed him, and they wouldn't have needed kids there.' She frowned._

_The face he had when he mentioned them, she wondered idly if he loved them, but of course he would. He cared for and loved everybody, though some more than others. She had watched as he'd whispered profiles of his students while they were bored taking watch on their mission. His face had looked slightly put out when he mentioned his chuunin, and all she could do was imagine what it felt like to be the last and most important person to genius at such a young age._

_She couldn't really imagine it though, she was still young and slightly naive at the time, so she distracted him with a punch to the shoulder and told him to pay attention so she could take a nap._

* * *

Hinata rushed forward, not enough that it made her seem imperfect or jostled in anyway, just enough so that she wouldn't be late meeting up with Kiba and Shino. She had a feeling Shino wouldn't say anything, but would be annoyed or worried as to why she was late when it was so unusual for her. Kiba, well he'd probably laugh and tease her about taking too long doing her hair.

She hadn't been doing her hair though, she'd been taking a nap, but she thought using that as a better excuse was probably moot. The only reason she'd been taking a nap though, was because she'd been kept up all night trying to-

"Oof!" Hinata was knocked back as a figure rounded the corner and slammed into her. Hinata was lighter than the figure, and fell easily.

"What the?! Hinata?"

Hinata lifted herself from the ground gingerly, trying to decide whether she should apologize even though it wasn't she who ran into the other… girl? It had been the other girl who had ran into her.

"Ah, I'm sor- Temari?" Hinata blinked, her pale eyes taking in the strong girl in front of her. It wasn't too unusual to see Team Sand in Konoha, they frequently took the diplomatic missus to and from sound. Hinata suspected it was because they missed the rookie nine, and in some instances liked the free sake that came complimentary with being the Kaze-kage's siblings. Kankuro had confided in her when she was assigned to escort them that Konoha's sake was the best.

Hinata had desperately wanted Shikamaru there. The sand siblings were much too… _bold_ for her.

"Yeah, that's me! Hey," Temari seemed to give a questioning gaze before leering. "You still got the hots for Naruto right?"

* * *

Naruto is roughly 5 at the flashback, Iruka is 17. Not a lot to say, just bear with me until the next chapter, 'kay? ;) Thank you to all those who read, review, watch, and/or fav this!

Oh, and at my deviantART profile I drew a picture of a teenage Kushina, check it out if you're interested!

-Alika613


	6. Chapter 6

Cyclamen

Disclaimer: Though some of the ideas are mine, I do not own the characters or main plot of Naruto.

_/Kyuubi speak/_

'_Thought'_

_Flashback_

* * *

"Yeah, that's me! Hey," Temari seemed to give a questioning gaze before leering. "You still got the hots for Naruto right?"

Hinata's entire face flushed red and she grimaced slightly at the blonde. It wasn't like she expected Temari to bite her tongue, but it was completely random. That and every time she heard Naruto's name it was simply her first reaction. "Uh… well, I wouldn't say I'm… _hot_ for him, I just… really admire him." She flushed even more, that sounded unbelievably stupid, even to her.

Temari raised an eyebrow. "It's funny that I run in to you, I was just talking with Shikamaru about Naruto." Hinata didn't miss the lack of honorific, she wondered when the rookie nine and then some, that is the rookie nine, plus team sand, plus team Gai, had gotten so familiar. It was nice, but she wondered if Temari had any special reason for calling Shikamaru so friendly.

Then she realized exactly what Temari had said. "Why? Has something happened to Naruto-kun?!"

"No, and how would I know anyways? I was just bored out of my mind waiting for the Hokage when I realized I didn't really know the kid that saved my brother," she looked thoughtful for a moment, then her face turned serious. "We never really know a whole lot about the people that make the biggest changes in our lives, do we? Well it's never really enough once their gone…

"Oh geez, that sounded stupid. It was nice running into you. I'll try and see the others before I return to Suna, bye."

"Ah! Yes, b-bye!" Hinata smiled and bowed slightly, knowing it wasn't needed. She wondered what had happened to bring that up, toeing the ground slightly as she thought. It seemed like a number of things had crossed Temari's mind and she hadn't quite been herself.

"Hinata! Why are you daydreaming in the middle of the street?!" The deep, rough voice of her teammate shook Hinata back to reality, and she blushed as she looked over her shoulder. Her eyelashes fluttered a little as her gaze fell between Kiba and Shino. Even Akamaru panted in the heat looking like he was teasing her along with his owner.

"Gomen, I'm sorry!" She ran towards them and stepped lightly on stealth trained feet. "Were you waiting for me long?"

"No," Shino took in the sight of his worried friend. He could tell that nothing serious happened, since she hadn't fainted yet, but she did seem to have more on her mind than usual.

"Don't worry about it, Kurenai-sensei was called on mission so training wasn't going to be anything new anyways. She sent a chuunin from the office to inform us that we've been assigned the C rank job of helping with the demolition." Kiba pointed his thumb over his shoulder to the orphanage construction site. One could practically see the dust from a mile away.

"What are we supposed to be doing?" Hinata walked between her two friends. She expected Kiba to complain, C ranked missions weren't his favorite. B ranked missions had all the excitement, with less of the death to agonize over like A ranked.

"We're clearing the north and east wing, making sure that there isn't anything dangerous or anything living there prior to the deconstruction. Basically making sure there isn't any TNT that could blow more than the building, and that no kittens left behind will die tragically." Kiba cracked his neck slightly and scratched playfully on Akamaru's head between his ears. "We're meeting with the head of construction, Nishiyami Akiro. Since it's a ninja orphanage they want it to be looked over well."

"Rooftops?" Hinata jumped to the nearest roof, it was rude to take them in early morning if people were sleeping in, but the area wasn't residential anyways and it was nearly ten now. She grinned down at Shino who was last to jump up and they raced to the site. They all touched down at roughly the same time and stood outside the wing most north of the ground's center. Looking around she noticed a man with a heavy frown and emblem on his arm marking him as the head. She headed towards him and Kiba and Shino turned to follow.

"Excuse me," The man turned at the sound of her voice, he seemed young for the position; couldn't be much older than thirty, and usually you needed a lot of experience before heading up a ladder that worked along the ninja part of the city. "Are you Nishiyami-san?"

The corner of his mouth pulled up in a smile that only reached the left side of his face. As he ran a hand through his hair, he replied. "Call me Akiro, please. I'm the head of construction relating to ninja buildings. You must be the three sent to clear the north and east division."

"Yes, we're team eight. Akiro-san, is there any reason to suspect that the demolition could be dangerous?" Shino stepped forth. Akiro looked slightly taken aback by the teen dressed in layers in the middle of summer.

"No, actually this is purely routine. Because the building is funded by the Council, and is filled mostly with children of ninja casualties, it needs to be overseen by workers approved by the Council and the building has to be cleared and overseen by higher ranked ninjas, _you._ We aren't suspecting any surprises, so there's nothing to really be concerned about." His dark eyes drifted to the doorway.

"We'll get started then and report our findings, we're sure the building is sound enough for demolition, but we'll take every precaution." Shino spoke and nodded his head, getting ready to turn into the building. Kiba followed, winking and implying an atmosphere of _'leave it to me.'_

"Thank you!" Akiro called towards them before turning around and ordering the other workers back to their positions. He brought his eyes back to the section of building that was being examined. The north section had been for older kids, it was the same size as the other ones, but had been put in rooms to house three kids.

His two roommates were unforgettable; there had been Ruka-kun and Tomonori-kun. Plus the unforgettable Head of the Wing, she'd let Ruka go at fourteen, but he'd still stumble and crash in Akiro's room to sleep off the alcohol. She'd had a more easy going personality than other workers at the orphanage, so she'd turned a blind eye to their discretions more often than not.

Last he heard Ruka was a teacher at the ninja academy, and that had been some years ago. They'd remained strong for the longest time, but after his stint in Juvy he'd returned to find that he and Ruka had both grown up. They were twenty-one, it had been time for them to decide if they were going to be brats forever, or if they were going to start to own up. They'd been lucky, Akiro had nearly been an adult and could have gone to prison, and since Ruka was a ninja, he'd legally become an adult at sixteen. The third Hokage had saved them from that though. Saved them from their own stupidity.

"Akiro-san is the man in the tan leather over there…" Akiro could just barely hear his worker shout over the sound of the trucks moving. He looked around to find another young woman, maybe the same age as the girl he'd just seen with pale eyes and purple-black hair. She looked at him with large, green eyes and walked across the grounds in long strides. She had a rough yet cute side to her, and she seemed perfectly in control in stilettos and a long white coat.

"This is a bit unorthodox," she stopped in front of him. "My name is Haruno Sakura, I'm here on behalf of the Hokage. I hear there's a team here clearing the building for demolition?"

"Yeah," Akiro pointed to the north building. "Team eight is inspecting. Why are you here then? Not to be rude, I'm merely curious as to why you've been sent. I didn't receive any notice."

She smiled a little. "I'm a trained medic-nin, a few years ago there was a massive lead poisoning in the residents, and records show that part of the building was insulated with asbestos. As such, I'm going to issue that if team eight finds evidence of this all workers demolishing this site be wearing masks. I'm not going to interfere, I'm just trying to overlook the health of the workers. Is that okay with you?"

"It's fine, please, keep my men safe." Akiro wondered why she seemed so familiar. He pegged her for sixteen, but she'd have to be at least a high ranked chuunin.

"Thanks, I'll wait for the report and start informing the other-" Akiro watched the girl look around him, like she recognized someone in the distance and he could just make out figures at the border of the property.

"You know them?" Akiro didn't sound nosy, he sounded friendly, like he was making conversation.

"Oh, yeah, it looks like Konohamaru's gang. I don't know them well, their just a few kids that idolize my teammate, Naruto."

Akiro thought he'd heard wrong, he shifted slightly. "Naruto…?"

She nodded absentmindedly, then turned back to answer him. "Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

Author's Note: Hey! I got my computer back so hopefully I can start writing a lot more! I tried a bit harder on this chapter, but I'm not sure if I like having it one part, or the old way where I did a few different character that weren't necessarily interacting. What do you think?

-Alika613


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